Matt Liguori analyzes the Survivor: Island of the Idols cast each week to pick out which players make up his top three and bottom two, as well as identifying one player we should keep an eye on.
Survivor: Island of the Idols Week 10
Previously on… Sur54
We’re still chugging along here as we get closer to the end of a strange season. I’m in this weird place where I really like so many people left in the game: Lauren, Karishma, Noura, Tommy, JANET, etc. But it’s still not registering as a super compelling week-to-week viewing experience. But I did have fun with this week’s episode, from Dean’s legacy advantage shenanigans to Lauren’s mission from Rob and Sandra to Karishma’s show-stopping idol play.
Last week, Elizabeth’s game finally came to an end after spending a few weeks in my bottom two. Her overall game wasn’t very impressive, but as a non-Survivor fan coming into the game, she did just about as well as many other recruits tend to do. The idea of a Missy-Elizabeth-Aaron voting block terrifies me, but I’ll try not to get too ahead of myself on that end.
As always, check me out on Twitter @mattliguori and let me know your thoughts!
Karishma
Every single person on this season has discounted Karishma up until this point. Nobody has given her any credit to be able to do anything physical, mental, strategic, social, etc. any step of the way. This week Karishma successfully played an idol that negated seven votes and proved everybody has underestimated her. This was a huge moment in the game to start building up an all-so-important resume, which Karishma really needs given how everybody sees her as a goat.
Lauren
Everything came up Lauren this week. It started with that adrenaline rush of her closest ally Tommy coming back to camp when she surely thought he was a goner. Using that momentum, Lauren was able to get herself to the Island of the Idols without anyone stepping in her way and ultimately got herself an idol. Watching Lauren and Tommy toy with the rest of their tribemates about how great the food would be was a lot of fun and a perfect way to use the information.
Lauren’s idol play at Tribal Council was fully justified and the 100% right call. The idol was only good for two rounds and she knew that one vote was going to decide who went home once Karishma saved herself. There is absolutely no reason to risk your life in the game over an unpredictable player’s vote at the final 9. Lauren proved herself in multiple ways this week and if she gets herself to the end, she’s got a great case to make to the jury.
Tommy
Tommy continues to quietly sneak by each vote while being one of the biggest social threats in the game. This week, Tommy told us his target was Elizabeth. While everybody ended up going with Dean’s plan to vote for Karishma, he did ultimately see Elizabeth go home. His alliance with Lauren has benefited him in big ways as Lauren shared all details about this week’s idol mission. Besides Lauren, Tommy also has Dean by his side and it looks like Elaine is feeling pretty loyal to ol’ Big Red too. Always good to have this many potential allies with only eight left in the game.
Dean
I kinda have no words for what Dean brought to our screens this week. Comedic gold and a legendary “WTF”… I really need to know what this man was thinking. It takes a special kind of player to put a plan like that into action and actually go through with it. Now that the fake-fake-Legacy Advantage was played, we really need to hope Dean sticks around a couple more votes to play the real-fake-Legacy Advantage when they get down to six.
Dan
… yeah.
Elaine
Elaine lands in this week’s one-to-watch spot as she’s suddenly become the person whose game I’m most confused by. By letting Missy go, Elaine took all control of the game from the Lairo four and handed it to Tommy and Lauren. So now that Elaine has chosen her side and eliminated the other, she’s locked in on her endgame plans. But those plans are foggy to me; I’m not sure who she thinks is bringing her to the final 3. There’s been so much talk all season about how much of a threat Elaine could be to win the game and that’s likely a sentiment still shared by most.
